Tulsa @ Kansas State preview

Last Meeting ( Dec 8, 2018 ) Kansas State 46, Tulsa 47

Kansas State looks to snap out of a rough stretch and regain a little confidence before starting Big 12 play next week when it hosts Tulsa for a non-conference contest Sunday night. The Wildcats have lost five of their last seven games since beginning the season with four straight wins and had a week to think about it since dropping a 66-63 decision against Saint Louis in Kansas City on Dec. 21.

Coach Bruce Weber said it has been like “Groundhog Day” during the slump - the same scenario in losses - and Kansas State will try to break the cycle with a sharper effort before visiting Oklahoma next weekend for its Big 12 opener. “They did some decent things, but we did not have enough guys chip in,” Weber told reporters after his team turned the ball over 18 times and allowed 51.1 percent shooting against Saint Louis. “We have to get better production and more consistency if we are going to make any progress.” Tulsa, which has won seven of the previous eight meetings in the series after a 47-46 upset last season, has lost three of its past four games overall after falling 111-104 in triple overtime versus Colorado State on Dec. 21. “The whole time, we kept saying, ‘It’s not over. Keep fighting, keep fighting,’” Golden Hurricane junior forward Jeriah Horne told the Tulsa World. “. … Coach (Frank) Haith talks about bowing up our backs and I feel like today we did that. At the end of the day, it just didn’t work out in our favor.”

TV: 6 p.m. ET, No TV

ABOUT TULSA (8-4): Horne poured in a career-high 28 points in the loss to Colorado State to push his season average to 10.8 - second on the team behind junior guard Brandon Rachal (14.9), who also leads the way in rebounds (7.2) and steals (1.9) in his first season after transferring from LSU. Horne has connected on 17-of-35 from 3-point range over the last seven games and senior forward Martins Igbanu (9.8 points) picked up is production the last two contests by scoring 35 combined. Junior guard Elijah Joiner (7.2 points) scored 34 total over the last two games while contributing career highs of nine rebounds and nine assists last time out.

ABOUT KANSAS STATE (6-5): Senior forward Xavier Sneed leads a balanced offense at 14.1 points per game, but is just 5-for-18 from the field in the last two games - 1-for-9 from inside the arc. Junior forward Levi Stockard III stepped up to reach double figures for the first time in his career with 17 points on 5-of-5 shooting with four rebounds in 28 minutes against Saint Louis. Junior guard Cartier Diarra contributes 11.6 points along with team-high averages of 5.7 assists and 2.1 steals for the Wildcats while senior forward Makol Mawien scores 7.6 per contest and shares the team lead on the glass with Sneed (5.1).

TIP-INS

1. Tulsa junior G Darien Jackson is averaging 11.3 points on 15-of-24 shooting from the floor the last three games.

2. Kansas State freshman F Montavious Murphy had two points in 18 minutes against Saint Louis after missing seven games due to injury.

3. The Golden Hurricane have attempted 89 fewer 3-pointers than their opponents.

PREDICTION: Kansas State 72, Tulsa 66